Fan Number 61
by a quirky little tune
Summary: When Riku and Sora return to the islands after their adventures, they find their troubles are not quite over. Riku has to deal with a Riku fan club sprouting up in school and Sora... well, Sora has to deal with the fan club in his own way, too. RiSo
1. Cafeteria

**Fan Number 61**

by _a quirky little tune_

* * *

"A _what_?"

With his sandwich halfway to his gaping mouth and uneven thick slices of banana slipping from their niche in between the bread, Sora Hikari made quite the sight. His lips parted and closed several times, unintelligible syllables stumbling off his tongue.

"There's a—a –?"

"A Riku Fan Club, yes." Kairi Kokoro sat across from her friend, her chin resting in a small cupped palm while amusement shaped her mouth into a charming smile. She sipped contentedly at her Tropical Fruit smoothie, watching as the flustered brunet resumed chomping thoughtfully on his lunch.

"Like… like a real fan club?" Sora's lips pursed curiously.

"Yeah, one hundred percent legit – or as legit as you can get in high school, anyway. I'd been hearing strange things about this rumored club ever since you guys came back, but I always thought they were exaggerations. You know how girls like to joke around about marriage and fan clubs and bearing the fruit of so-and-so's loins," Kairi explained flippantly, motioning toward her right cheek.

Sora mimicked her movements across his own face, slim fingers touching a blob of wayward peanut butter. He quickly wiped it off with his napkin, a slight furrow appearing on his forehead. "What made you realize that it's real?"

Smiling prettily, Kairi twirled her smoothie cup between her hands. "Well, when I went to the mall's food court today to get lunch, I saw a whole bunch of students from our school cramming into this one store. It's that new one, you know, where you can take a photo and make it into a t-shirt or a keychain or something?"

Sora nodded distractedly.

"I went to go see what was going on and there were two girls and a guy – probably the leaders or something – standing up front of the mob at the counter, negotiating prices. Apparently, they had scored a picture of our Riku and were making actual membership cards and other goodies with his face on it." Kairi crinkled her nose, brushing some of her loose red hair back behind her ears. "And poor Riku looked horrible in that photo – it was a candid shot and half his body was blurry while his mouth was wide open…"

Kairi continued to mutter about the lacking photography while Sora fiddled with his juice box straw. It refused to puncture the plastic hole, the angled tip of the straw beginning to bend as the brunet tried repeatedly to jam it through. He sighed, his mind tuning Kairi out as his thoughts wandered to what she had just told him.

He knew Riku had always been a popular guy, even when they had been growing up. Actually, at first, a lot of the boys had taken to picking on Riku because of his long hair and pale skin, but their teasing had soon grown to admiration (and in some cases, dislike) after Riku had finally got sick of their "lame tries to make him less cool" (he had played several practical jokes, outraced the two fastest boys on the island at the time, and brought many kids to their knees during wooden sword fights). And the girls… well, the girls had always liked Riku, appreciating the fact that he had never thrown mud at them or pulled on any of their pigtails (the only one he had really messed around with was Sora, actually, though Sora himself never really understood why he had been treated so differently).

As the years had gone by, childish awe and giggling had turned into real respect and hardcore crushes. Even after being absent for two years, Riku had effortlessly gained all that back and more from his peers without so much as a word to any of them.

Before their adventures, Sora had oftentimes found himself jealous of Riku's spotlight. The silver-haired boy wouldn't even try to make friends, yet they all gathered around him as if he were the super magnet and they were the paper clips. Sora had always bristled in the hallways whenever he had seen Riku in the middle of some huge, laughing group, surrounded by admirers.

Sora idly smiled at the childishness of it all, knowing why Riku's popularity had bugged him so much, yet now unable to feel any of the past resentment.

It wasn't that no one had liked Sora; in fact, it had been the exact opposite. Practically the entire Destiny Islands' population knew the brunet and had enjoyed his bright company, always ready to give a smile or a wave when they saw him around town (they all still smiled at him whenever he passed by, but there was now an edge of uncertainty in their eyes, as if they could _feel_ how different Sora was from them, how strong he had become).

But at 13 or 14, all that had mattered to Sora was that Riku seemed to beat him in _everything_. In games, in sword fights, in races, in school, in age… Sora was loveable and unique, yes, but Riku was special, talented, and he was an admirable figure. The whole island seemed to place him on a pedestal of some sort. The competitive part of Sora, the part that had dominated his relationship with Riku at the time, found that friendship was yet another area in which Riku was beating him in, and wasn't that just _infuriating_?

Now, though… now, things were different. After facing so many obstacles and searching for the truth, their understanding of one another had become almost scary. Very rarely were they not in sync; somehow after everything, their friendship had come back unbroken and even deeper than before.

Their friendship... Sora bit his lip, trying hard not to let any worry or blush spill onto his face. It was true – their friendship now was much more mature, built on a base of stronger ties than just mere rivalry. As kids, they had been the best of friends. As young teens, they had lost sight of each other and could have very well drifted apart forever if they hadn't been drawn into the other worlds.

But friendship wasn't even the end of it. Sora could feel his own feelings changing every day, evolving into something he wasn't sure he wanted; nothing was the same anymore, and Sora would almost rather go adventuring again to save the multiple universes than staying in high school and face his own complicated mess.

Kairi finished her mini rant with a small flourish, her lips pursing slightly. She turned amused eyes towards Sora, breaking his train of thought and asking him mischievously, "What do you think Riku would do if he actually knew that people were stalking him to take weird, intrusive photos of him for their Riku Worshipping Altar?"

Sora chuckled, imaging his best friend's response, and was about to answer before a tray slammed down next to his bagged food, interrupting his response.

"I'm sorry, what would Riku do if he knew _what_?" Riku Karada himself dropped heavily into his chair, his eyebrow raised high and his strong arms crossed over his chest.

Kairi froze slightly at being caught while Sora, taken by surprise, pushed his straw so hard that it went in through his juice box and out the other side. Room temperature apple juice began to dribble from the impromptu hole and, pouting, Sora chucked his drink away. The roof of his mouth was so dry from his peanut butter and banana sandwich and he eyed Riku's unopened Gatorade appraisingly.

Riku pointedly moved his beverage to the far side of his tray, out of Sora's reach. His eyes concentrated sharply on Kairi, whose look of surprise had morphed easily into one of humor. Agitated, he ran a hand through his hair and demanded, "You –repeat what you just said. Hopefully, you said something completely different than what I think you said, and I've just had too many keyblade injuries to the head."

Sora grinned secretly while Kairi gave a boyish chuckle. She replied with a grin, "Nope, Riku, I'm pretty sure you heard correctly before. Though, if I were you, I'd still get my head checked anyway."

The silver-haired boy hissed slightly, ignoring the girl's jibe. "But who the hell would want to stalk me for crappy photos?" He blinked uncomfortably. "Who the hell would want to stalk me, _period_?"

"Apparently," Sora said quite seriously, "you've got a real, authentic fan club after your ass."

Kairi and Riku sent him a weird look and the brunet flushed under their gazes. "I didn't mean after your ass _literally_!" he huffed, sticking out his tongue. He paused, considered and then sheepishly admitted, "Okay, maybe some of them actually are – argh, you know what I mean!"

Smirking, Riku leaned back in his chair until the full implications of Sora's answer hit him. His lips quickly twitched downwards. "A… fan club? What the hell? I thought super famous celebrities got those, or hot anime guys or something. Not a random senior in high school."

"Face it, Riku," now Kairi smirked, finding the whole situation far more amusing than was probably healthy with Riku sitting so close by, "You're great 'guy material'. You've got the refined, gorgeous looks, a bit of a mysterious air since no one knows where you've been for the past two years, and a maturity that far surpasses that of any other guy in our school. Your name is at the top of everyone's list."

Sora mulled over Kairi's list and frowned. "Wait a second," he started slowly, "I was gone for two years, just like Riku, and I'm plenty mature! Why don't _I_ have a fan club?!"

He glared accusingly at his redheaded friend.

Snorting, Riku flicked him on the forehead. "Stop complaining, silly. If you want, you can have mine. I don't mind. _Really_."

Kairi smiled almost apologetically at Sora, ignoring Riku. "That's true, Sora, but you're pretty… normal." Before the keyblade master could even ask, Kairi hurried to finish her thought. "And by normal, I mean that you don't seem like you're hiding anything. You're a very straightforward, honest person and people can't even imagine you doing anything like drugs or gangs –"

"Are you saying that that's what people think I've been up to all this time?" Riku looked annoyed, swinging his head ever so slightly to the left to jerk his long bangs out of his sea colored eyes. "Drugs and gangs?"

"You don't talk much, Riku, and your personality isn't as open as Sora's. So naturally, people have no idea what you're really like or what you're capable of." Kairi shrugged. "Plus, when people find their own lives to be boring, they jump at the first chance to make them interesting – even if it means they have to totally make stuff up about another person. "

Riku exhaled loudly, stabbing at his almost forgotten salad with irritation. "Whatever."

Sora was still frowning. "I could be bad ass if I wanted to be; I could _totally_ join a gang. And I'm just as good looking as Riku is!"

Riku almost choked on the tomato in his mouth, sputtering laughter rumbling from his chest. "A gang? _You_?" He couldn't seem to say anything else, snickering uncontrollably into his hand.

He tried to compose himself but a wayward image of a gangster-Sora flickered into his mind and the effort was lost. It had been a valiant try.

Sora sputtered, pointing an outraged finger at his amused friends, "Yes, a _gang_. In fact, I could start my _own _gang – and, and I would totally be the number one thug in no time, considering how easily I can defeat any challenger on this island!"

Riku's laughter died down and the mood of the lunch table shifted completely.

"Oh?" Riku's eyebrow quirked, a smirk smoothing its way onto his face, "Oh_, really_? Is that a _challenge_, Sora?"

Kairi groaned as a familiar spark ignited in both males' eyes. She sighed and moved to throw away her trash, muttering "_Boys_," under her breath as she left. She purposely chose the trashcans across the room so as to give them some "guy time".

Sora grinned at Riku; both seemed oblivious to the girl's departure, caught up as they were in their battle of testosterone.

"You know it is," Sora said with much bravado, "Whatcha gonna do about it, _Ri_-ku?" He drew out the first syllable of Riku's name teasingly, hands braced on the table as he leant forward ever so slightly.

"I'll just have to show you who the real champion on this island is," Riku smiled mockingly, the ends of his bangs just barely touching the curve of his upper lip.

Sora snorted and retorted brashly, "And how are you gonna do that, pray tell? Because if I remember correctly – and I'm pretty sure I do – I was able to defeat you easily on all our adventures…"

"That's funny," Riku spoke casually, leaning back in his chair as if he hadn't a care in the world, "Because if _I_ remember things correctly, I was saving _your_ helpless ass from Xemnas at the end of our battle."

Immediately, Sora banged the palms of his hands down hard on the table, all cool composure gone. He went back to pointing accusingly at Riku, a dull flush conquering his cheeks and spreading down his neck. "Y-yo-you! That was unfair, I never asked you to help me! And need I remind you that _I_ was the one who supported your stupid body across The World That Never Was after the battle?"

Riku's eye twitched, but he managed to keep up his cocky smirk, looking relatively unaffected. "You don't need to remind me – I remember quite clearly how you helped me _right after_ I saved your ass and even got injured for your sake."

The competitive mood quickly evaporated. Sora froze and then slumped a bit, eyes swinging off to the side in a show of discomfort. Riku felt a stab of guilt and pursed his lips together thinly, placing his left hand on the brunet's right shoulder and pushing him back down into his chair.

"I… didn't mean to sound as if I regretted the injury," Riku told him seriously. The younger teen worried his bottom lip and twisted slightly in his seat to face his best friend.

"You shouldn't have gotten hurt because of me," Sora said quietly.

Riku flashed a genuine smile. "Silly, it wasn't a serious injury—"

"Your ribs were bruised pretty badly; you can't tell me it wasn't serious!"

The silver-haired boy sighed, shooting Sora a slightly aggravated look at being interrupted. "They healed within a few weeks with no lasting damage or breaks. So, since _it wasn't that serious_, as I was saying, it was a small sacrifice to help you out."

Sora opened his mouth to protest some more, but the intent look on Riku's face made him pause. Finally, he sighed loudly, grinned weakly, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I know. I guess I'm concentrating on the wrong part –"

"Damn straight."

"—Don't interrupt me, you jerk!" Sora paused mid-pout and then laughed lightly as he realized how quickly he had changed tracks. His goofy grin shifted into a brilliant smile. "But… really, Riku… thanks. For watching out for me."

"I've always got your back," Riku said honestly, expression clear and earnest.

Sora quickly began a new thread of conversation, trying to avoid an awkward silence after their bonding moment. "Hey, where did Kairi go?"

Riku blinked. "Trashcans?"

"But didn't she leave like five minutes ago?"

"I guess," Riku shrugged, "She's probably just talking to some friends." He picked up his fork to finish eating his salad.

Of course, only seconds later, the bell rang, signaling the end of their lunch period; students slid back their chairs and began throwing away their food while heading for the doors. Riku let out a sharp swear at not being able to eat most of his lunch and hurriedly stuffed the bagged snacks into his bookbag for later.

"Sora, my class is on the whole other side of the building – can you throw away my trash and put my tray back for me?" Riku was already standing, glaring as some unfortunate kid accidentally plowed into him.

Sora gaped. "What? No way! Throw your own stuff out!"

"It's your fault I didn't get to eat! I can't be late or Demmins will kill me!"

"That's your problem, you dummy! Don't blame it on me – you should take responsibility for your actions!" Sora rose to his feet, grabbing his bulging bag and hefting it onto his small shoulders.

Riku put a hand to his left side and gave a fake moan, pretending to stumble. "M-my ribs! Oh, the agony!"

The keyblade master felt his eye twitch. "Fine. Asshole. Get to class or I'll _Blizzara_ you there." He grabbed Riku's tray and briefly saw his friend smirk good-naturedly before the older teen left with a quick wave.

Thanks to Riku, now _Sora_ would be the one late to class.

"What an idiot," Sora muttered, but his words lacked any real heat. The tiniest of smiles played on the edge of his lips.

* * *

Wow, I guess it's lucky that the cafeteria was too loud for anyone to really hear their conversation, huh? Ehehehh... sorry 'bout that. And now for some notes:

First off, for those of you who didn't notice, I have changed my penname. I used to be _incessant insanity_, and am now _a quirky little tune_. Sorry for all the confusion and such!

Second off, I had to post this. I just had to. Do you know how long it's been sitting, innocently and lonely, on my hard drive? No, you don't. Pity the poor thing.

Third off, FFNet makes it damn hard for a poor girl to upload a document. I had to re-save and reformat this thing at least four times for the website to accept it. Tch.

Fourth off, please give leave some comments; I hope you enjoyed!

Thank you for your time,

***a quirky little tune***


	2. Locker

**Fan Number 61**

_by _a quirky little tune

* * *

"_Holy sh_—"

Rku stared into his locker with wide eyes. Sora, who was waiting for him to finish so they could stop at the brunet's locker down the hall, impatiently surveyed the empty hallway. Both boys lived nearby, so the two often found themselves staying after to do homework together in the school's media center; they found that there was just something enjoyable about wandering the near empty building without all the fast paced energy or the frantic bodies that were present during the school day.

Sora glanced back at his best friend, an intense, thoughtful look dominating the silver-haired boy's face. Confused, Sora peeked into Riku's locker. He intended to look quickly and then drag the older boy down to his own locker, but as soon as he glimpsed at what was inside, all he could do was stare.

Neither male could find anything to say and stood side-by-side, dumbstruck for a few minutes. Finally, Sora blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"…_Damn_. Is that Godiva?"

His response quickly broke his friend out of his stupor. Riku set down the books he had been holding and began pulling out all of the gifts stuffed in his locker. Candies, baked goods, trinkets, gift cards. When he was finished, a small lopsided pile sat next to his bookbag on the floor. The two boys paused, then simultaneously dropped to the floor on their knees and began sorting through the offerings.

"Are these all gifts for me?" Riku asked incredulously.

"Must be," Sora replied, just as nonplussed. He brought a small bag of homemade sugar cookies up to his eyes and evaluated the slightly smudged 'I LOVE RIKU' icing that decorated every single confection.

"This is ridiculous…"

"Look, someone gave you free movie tickets!" Sora cried excitedly, waving a bundle of small passes.

Riku was busy reading the back of a thriller novel someone had bought him. "This is one of my favorite authors!" He placed the book down carefully and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How the hell do they know what series I read?"

Sora, already munching on some of the homemade goods, wiped his mouth and crossed his arms in deep thought. "Hmm… maybe they just pay a lot of attention to you in class and you never noticed?"

Twitch. "What stalkers!"

Snicker. Pause. Gasp. "Whoa, look! Someone _sketched your portrait_!"

"What, seriously? Is it any good?"

"Er, yeah, it's not half bad – look."

"… Am I really that girly looking?"

Snicker. "It's your hair, man."

Snort. Quiet mutter. "I knew I should have gotten my bangs cut…"

Munch. Munch. "These are delicious, Riku, you really should have one."

"I would love to try one… if only you hadn't just placed the last one in your mouth, you pig."

"Heh heh… sorry 'bout that. You really missed out, Riku!"

"… thanks…"

Rustle. "Hey, what's this number written here on the back? Number 12?"

"Yeah, there are numbers handwritten on all of them," Riku mused, inspecting several trinkets in his hands. "Number 2, 6, 13…"

Sora picked up a handmade mini pastry and blinked. "Wowwww, this one here goes up to number 23!" He grabbed an unopened box of chocolate. "This one is number 29!"

Riku slowly shook his head, slightly in shock. "This is – _insane_, to say the least. Who the hell would give me all this stuff? It's like a secret admirer, except I can't imagine a single person making all these—"

The two teens froze for a second. Then, as one, they looked up sharply, sharing a slightly astonished glance. "You don't think…" they said together.

"No way—"

"That would be ridiculous—"

"—besides, according to Kairi—"

"—how would they even get my combination—"

"—they just became a real club _today_—"

"—how do they even know I _like_ thriller novels—"

"—isn't this more like a cartoon or something – hey, wait, Riku, look at this!"

Riku paused in his incredulous ramblings and scrambled closer to Sora when he saw the boy hunched over a note.

"'_Dear Riku, _

"_We hope that you enjoy these gifs as a token of our admiration for you! Our purpose, as your Fan Club, is to offer you our solid support and endless affection. We only wish the best for you._

"_Sometime this week we will create a box with which you can drop messages off to communicate with any of our members. Each gift has the club member's official number written on them, so if you would like to respond to any of them, place your response in our mailbox with the number as the address. We will make sure that all responses will go to the correct members when we empty the box at the end of the week. Forever yours! _

"_- The newly established, DaiRiZu (heart)(heart)_'," Sora read slowly, eyes squinting when he got to the end. "DaiRiZu? What the heck is that?"

Riku sat back, grimacing. He ran a gloveless hand through his long hair and let out a suffering sigh. "Hell if I know. At least it explains the numbers."

"This is pretty well organized for a club that just started today," Sora murmured, amused. "But at least it doesn't seem like those crazy, vicious fanclubs you find in animes."

Riku's face switched violently from resigned to horrified at the thought. He could almost imagine having weird students following him around with a banner with his face on it, cheering little songs that praised his godliness. "Don't even mention something like that!"

Sora stifled a small laugh. "So, what do you think, Riku?"

"Think? About what?"

"About this mailbox they're setting up! You think you're gonna reply to any of their gifts?" Sora asked earnestly.

Riku frowned and shifted on his knees. "No way. That would only encourage them and I have no inclination to date a single one."

The younger brunet huffed and glared disapprovingly. "But you don't even know who they are, so how can you know that you don't want to date them?"

Patiently, Riku said, "They're in a _fan club_, Sora. They're giving me secret gifts anonymously; they don't even try to openly get to know me! And the ones that do know me, like the person who got me this book –" he held up the thriller novel with an air of dissatisfaction "—never asked me about my likes or dislikes. They just _stalked_ me. What kind of relationship can be built on a foundation like that?"

"That's kind of harsh, Riku. There are probably some really nice people in that club, so you shouldn't generalize like that… Besides, isn't it a bit mean to not even give them a chance when they're trying so hard and – and showering you with gifts?" Sora asked, frowning.

Becoming a bit annoyed, Riku shot him a sharp look. "What's it to you, Sora? You know I didn't _ask_ for any of this stuff."

"I know. But using their gifts and not replying is kind of… smucky," Sora wrinkled his nose distastefully. "Like, if I were giving a gift to the person I like, I would want them to respond in some way if they did accept the present."

"Wait," Riku mulled over his words carefully, a spark of curiosity lighting his angled face. "Hold on a second, a gift to the person you _like_? Like, hmm? That was a present tense "like", Hikari – are you crushing on someone?"

It was very hard to hold back his blush… Sora figured he probably failed anyway, what with the way Riku was suddenly grinning like the cat who caught the canary. "Wha -? No way, it was just a slip of the tongue! You read into these things way too much."

The older boy tsked and poked Sora in the stomach. "You're right – it was a "slip of the tongue". It was a slip only because you didn't want anyone to know about your feelings."

Riku was getting _way_ too close to the truth for comfort. Sora wondered idly if he was even breathing anymore and considered the notion that passing out might possibly be the best option for him in this kind of situation.

Seemingly nothing could divert Riku from his line of questioning now. The silver-haired boy leaned forward slightly, not even noticing a fan member's poem crumpling slightly under his palms. "Is it someone I know?"

"I'm telling you, I don't like anyone, Riku!"

"Is it Kairi? You said you were over that crush after The World That Never Was, but sometimes those kinds of crushes can be persistent," Riku mused in a half thoughtful and half teasing tone of voice. He continued to observe his best friend in a piercing manner and didn't seem to even register Sora's loud denials.

Sora gripped his fists and earnestly leaned forward to declare, "NO! Even if I did like anybody, it definitely wouldn't be Kairi! That road is well-traveled and done with." He waited a moment, then added dramatically, "Forever!"

Riku chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, no Kairi, I get it. But you didn't answer my question – is it someone I know?"

"No," Sora answered angrily, "It is NOT someone you know. And you don't know this someone because this SOMEONE doesn't even EXIST!" With his frustration gone, the brunet instantly started to feel guilty for his outburst. He moved to apologize but saw that RIku was contemplating something calmly instead of glaring heatedly or masking hurt.

"Okay, you're obviously conflicted and pressing you isn't gonna help," Riku finally relented, blowing wayward strands of hair from his mouth. He seemed a bit annoyed but he breathed deeply and the last traces of agitation seem to slink away. "I suppose I'll wait for you to spill on your own instead of forcing you."

Sora's lips pressed together tightly, feeling so very, very awkward. He wanted to yell some more and, at the same time, thank Riku for his thoughtfulness. The silence was just the tiniest bit heavy.

"All that aside," Riku slowly said, "I'm still not replying to that fanclub."

Sora took the opening gladly and some of his earlier energy concerning the matter of the DaiRiZu club returned. "That's really mean, Riku! I mean, these are all really special gifts that must have taken a lot of thought and effort!"

The older boy spoke in an uncaring voice, "That's not _my_ problem."

Sora tried to whack his friend on the shoulder, but Riku ducked skillfully out of the way. "Look, I'm not saying you have to go out with them or write a novel length response or anything. Just… if I were them, I'd really want to know if you liked what I put so much effort into."

Riku rolled his eyes and chucked a bag of brownies at Sora's head, smirking as the brunet was hit right on the cheek. "Alright, alright, _fine_. You can get off your soapbox now. I'll send them a general thank you note when they put that stupid mailbox up. But you can't expect me to write them _all_."

Done glaring, Sora was now helping himself to the projectile-brownies. "'Course not," he mumbled, mouth full of chocolate. "Just let 'em know you're grateful for their—"

"Insanity?" Riku muttered darkly.

"I was going to say their 'thoughtfulness', Riku," Sora laughed, brushing crumbs from his face. He stood quickly and hefted his bookbag onto his shoulder. "Come on, Mr. Popular, I still gotta go to my locker."

Riku looked up from underneath his unruly bangs and asked contentedly, "Help me up?" He extended one pale hand and shifted his long legs on the hard floor.

Sora huffed, grumbling about Riku's laziness, but grasped his hand nonetheless. Tan fingers wrapped around Riku's wrist tightly while pale ones gripped similarly around Sora's. There was a small shock of _something_ that Sora refused to acknowledge and with a quick pull, Riku stumbled onto his feet in a somehow graceful way.

Tch. Only Riku.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Hmmm?"

"… How the hell are we going to carry all these presents?"

* * *

_C-Could it possibly be...? An u-update_** on time**_? Well... don't expect this to become a habit, unfortunately. Especially for the next one, because I've kinda got a lot on my plate currently. On Wednesday, I leave for a college road trip lasting until Friday - then, my brother and I will meet up with the rest of our family for a Bar Mitzvah directly after. Then I've got SATs to worry about and a school event and..._

_I think you've got the picture... please ignore my whining, really._

_In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. For the seven of you who reviewed, thank you so so much! I greatly appreciate it and hope you see this through to the end (speaking of which, I hope I see this to the end, too...)! Two quick notes to end on:_

_1) For the fan club name _DaiRiZu_, ummm, you can guess? I sort of doubt you'll get it, though (no offense). It's kind of obscure, really; and I promise it will be explained in later chapters. But there is a sort of meaning behind it, so I didn't just pull it out of thin air like a moron. For real._

_2) More Sora and Riku interaction. In all seriousness, please tell me what you think about their characters. Sora and Riku are both horribly mutilated in this fandom, sometimes... it makes me seriously want to punch myself in the face when I read some stories nowadays. If you see my Sora and Riku beginning to teeter off the edge of IC, please give me a nudge. Or a shove, if need be. I would REALLY appreciate it._

***a quirky little tune***

* * *

Updated 4.14.09

I received a review commenting (not very nicely, actually) on my use of the fictional term "silveret". All of the message's rudeness aside, I agree with the criticism - me using a made up, fanfiction term like that is just plain laziness on my part. I apologize and have tried to scan for each "silveret" I may have originally written so as to correct this mistake. In truth, I'm not exactly sure why I allowed that term to enter my story, as I always get a little annoyed when I see an author write a brown-haired male as a "brunette" and not a "brunet", etc. I also cannot stand the term "bluenette" - I forget where exactly I saw this, but that's just ridiculous.

I feel a bit better, having corrected my error, but in the long run, I have to ask of my reviewer: _Really?_ You couldn't have tried to make your review a little more constructive and a little less snarky? It's not as if I am refusing your criticism - on the contrary, I accept your point and still feel insulted by the manner with which you wrote. Next time (if there even is a next time), please try to write an actual review and not just a petty insult, as it actually served to ruin my morning completely over something quite small.

***a quirky little tune***


	3. Porch

**Fan Number 61**

by _a quirky little tune_

* * *

Sora held the clunky, old-fashioned phone against his ear as he plopped down on his outside porch. The light above him flickered every so often, but Sora had long ago gotten used to its fickleness.

Kairi's slightly fuzzy laughter sounded from the receiver, but Sora sat with a blank look on his face; he was not amused and was, quite frankly, one minute away from hanging up (childish though it may be). Finally, the laughter died down to halting chuckles and the brunet asked snappishly, "Are you finished yet?"

Kairi seemed to try to breath and giggle at the same time, resulting in a rather choked sound. "S-sorry," she gasped, "I-I didn't mean t-to laugh at you, Sora, but this is just too perfect!"

A look of almost insulted disbelief crossed Sora's face. "Perfect?! Out of all my troubles, which part looks even remotely _perfect_ to you?"

Kairi stopped laughing abruptly, clearing her throat slightly to regain her composure. Her tone took on a notable soothing edge, as if pacifying a small child. "Er, nothing. You're right – there's nothing perfect about this situation at all."

Sora pulled his hand out in front of his face to glare suspiciously at the phone, then returned it to his ear and replied, "Why would you say that in the first place, anyway?"

There was a huge pause before Kairi coughed delicately, mentally cursing her inability to lie sincerely. "No reason."

"There's always a reason," the brunet argued insistently. "Seriously, which part of my misery makes things perfect for you?"

"I said for no reason!"

"Yeah, but you're _lying_!"

Not in the mood to draw out such a childish argument, Kairi abandoned her feeble attempts at deception, rolled her eyes, and sighed loudly. Jittery fingertips tapped against her jaw as she made her lips move. "Oh fine, you infuriating bum! You really want to know?"

"Um… _yes_."

Sarcasm didn't suit Sora well and Kairi wished they were speaking in the same room so she could hit him upside the head for his attitude.

"Things have come full circle, Sora. I just happen to find it funny that you've finally realized you have feelings for Riku."

Sora turned a faint shade of pink and muttered, "Sure, sure, laugh it up Kairi. You're not the one who has to – wait, what do you mean by 'full circle'?"

There was a long pause on the other line. "N-nothing. I just meant that we…"

Sora's brow furrowed. "'We'…?"

"We all knew about your feelings ever since we were kids and it's just great that you finally realized them yourself!" Kairi blurted out quickly, mentally cursing at herself for letting slip the whole "full circle" thing. It was easy to forget how sharp and intuitive Sora could be sometimes… Riku would _kill_ her if she accidently gave away any more.

The brunet blinked. He was pretty sure that Kairi's answer didn't really fit the term 'full circle' but maybe… Maybe she had just gotten her words mixed up? "Anyway," he said slowly, accepting her odd answer – for now, anyways. A new, more urgent thought came to the forefront of his mind and he bit the inside of his cheek worriedly. "Everyone knew for that long, huh? Was I really that obvious?"

He paused, then gripped the phone tighter. "_Am_ I that obvious?!"

Kairi giggled, part in amusement and part in relief. Intuitive and observant Sora could be (at times)… but he was also quite gullible. "No, you're fine, Sora. We've just known you for a long time, is all."

"But Riku's known me for longer than all of you!" he panicked. "So it stands to reason that he should know, too, right? Holy crap, I'm doomed – utterly, utterly doomed! He's going to beat the stuffing outta me!"

"Calm down, drama queen," Kairi sighed, blowing a few loose strands out of her face. "First off, even if he did know, why would he beat you up for something like that? Are you suggesting that Riku is a bully or a homophobe?"

Sora's frenzy died down immediately. "Ah, no…"

"And," Kairi continued sternly, "if he did know – which he doesn't – and he was prone to beating up gay kids on the island, wouldn't he have attacked you before this?"

"Well, yes, I guess—"

"Do you feel silly now for saying such ridiculous things?"

"… yes, ma'am."

Giggling, Kairi let her tone soften to make sure Sora knew she was sincere about what she would say next. "Trust me, Sora, if Riku knew how you felt about him, he wouldn't be mad or upset or disgusted with you at all. As it is, Riku's got absolutely no clue about your feelings. He's completely oblivious."

Sora chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully. Man, at first he had almost had a heart attack, thinking that Riku could possibly be already aware of Sora's crush. But then, after Kairi's explanation, a wave of something suspiciously like disappointment had washed over him. That had been kinda odd… why would he feel disappointed that Riku was now and would forevermore remain oblivious to Sora's lov—feelings? After all, it was in everyone's best interest, homophobic bully or not, that Riku never find out about any of this.

Er, right?

Blinking, Sora shook his head. _Of course_ it was all for the best! If Riku ever knew about Sora's feelings, then things would get real awkward real fast and their friendship would become strained. And if it was strained and awkward, then it wouldn't be _normal_ and Sora liked it when they were _normal_ (it made him feel content and warm and happy because that was the way things were _supposed_ to be). Sure, a small part of him may want more than that _normal _relationship, but he knew in the long run that it was certainly not worth the risk to –

"Sora? SORA?"

Kairi's voice successfully jolted him out of his engrossing thoughts and Sora sheepishly laughed at his own absentmindedness. "Hahhhh, sorry, Kairi, I guess I just zoned out!" He was definitely not going to tell her about the part of him that felt depressed that Riku would never know of Sora's true feelings… she would just badger him nonstop about confessing and he would eventually cave in to her prodding and confessing was probably the worst thing Sora could ever think of doing, ever, in the whole wide world (and there were tons of worlds to pick from), period.

"Sora!"

Ah, crud, he had done it again. "Heh… my bad, my bad!"

"Okayyyyy, I get the feeling that this subject is bit too complicated and stressful for you right now. SO, I'm going to be an amazing friend and switch topics _for_ you."

No more talking about Riku? That sounded like the best idea yet. A Riku-free conversation would really help to take Sora's preoccupied mind off the older boy. It was almost ridiculous, actually, how much time Sora spent thinking about his best friend – how those sea-green eyes stayed imprinted in his mind long after seeing Riku, how that smile made him so woozy even if viewed in a memory.

Ick. Was his mind on one track or what?

"Guess what's coming up soon?"

Sora sighed and willed his Riku-thoughts away. Shoo, Riku-thoughts, begone! "What?"

"Riku's birthday!"

"… Kairi."

"Hm?"

"Weren't you supposed to change the subject to a non-Riku related one? Wasn't that the whole point of you saving me from my own thoughts?"

Kairi huffed indignantly. "I said I would change the subject, which was your crush on Riku – I never mentioned that I would not talk about Riku at all. Suck it up, Hikari, because this birthday is something we definitely need to discuss, crushes or no crushes."

"Such compassion," he muttered, kicking up some dirt and weeds. He relented quickly, "Fine, fine. His birthday is three weeks from tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh! And since it's the big one-eight, I figure we need to outdo ourselves this year or DIE trying. Don't you agree?"

"That _sounds_ good," Sora said somewhat sulkily, "_In theory_. Because we both know for the fact that Riku is one of the hardest people to shop for. Even his own mother has a lousy time of it."

"That's true… Plus," Kairi spoke gently, softly, "all the stuff we used to know about Riku might not apply anymore. I mean, we just had a couple of rough years and we all grew from our different experiences. Our friendship is the same, because deep down, we're the same people with the same hearts, but on the outside… well, we should be prepared just in case Riku has different interests than he did before."

Sora digested those words slowly, mulling them over with as much care as he could muster. Kairi raised a good point and Sora knew it. They couldn't just assume that Riku still liked the same things as he did when they were younger. Heck, Sora was definitely not the same immature but well-intentioned kid he had been before their adventures and it would be foolish to pretend that Riku hadn't changed like he had.

He thought he would be upset at that revelation, but Sora couldn't be, not when he hiself had grown so much. Plus – and perhaps this was the optimist in him that spoke now – he couldn't be upset at these changes when they provided so many new opportunities to learn more about the person he care so deeply for.

"You're right," he replied, forgoing Kairi's tentative tone and instead speaking strongly and easily. This wasn't something to worry over or to feel disheartened about. "Even so, if we focus less on the specific materials or genres that Riku used to like and more on his actual personality, I'm sure we can still come up with things he'll enjoy."

Kairi grinned boyishly. "You can be very intuitive when you want to be, Sora," she told him, happy and almost touched by his thoughtful answer. What she had done to end up on such a beautiful island and to gain such wonderful friends, she would never truly know. But she figured she'd feel grateful for the rest of her life. "When should we schedule our shopping trip then?"

"Hmm," Sora mumbled as he closed his eyes and raised a hand to his chin – his usual 'thinking' pose. "Despite our awesome power of friendship awesomeness, I still think we should hold off on the shopping for a bit and see if we can first gather any information on Riku."

"Yeah, I – what? Oh, sorry, wait a second, Sora!" He heard some shuffling on Kairi's end and a muffled shout. Her voice was apologetic as she eventually replied, "Scouting for information sounds like a plan – uh, I'm sorry Sora, but my dad says that I gotta go do my homework—" a pause, an unintelligible growl from Kairi "—and that I shouldn't be talking so long on the phone with boys at this hour."

They both knew that Kairi's father, the mayor, was just teasing them (Sora had never known that men could be teddy bears until he saw the honorable mayor of Destiny Islands fussing over his only daughter). Sora chuckled, Kairi sighed in good-humored exasperation, and they hastily planned to meet tomorrow a bit before homeroom (as Riku loved to crash their homeroom when he could) to further discuss their strategy.

Sora shuffled back inside his house, returned the handheld receiver to its rightful place and made his way up his cramped steps. Having finished his homework earlier in the day, he changed rather lethargically into his pajamas and slid into his bed. The brief respite that Kairi had offered him was gone now and nothing could stop the flow of pure _Riku_ from spilling through his mind.

An image of memory-Riku smiling flashed in his head and, unable to help it, Sora soon fell asleep with a smile on his face to match.

* * *

_... please don't kill me. I am so so so so sorry about the delay and hope that this chapter will be good enough for you guys. It was the biggest pain in my... well, you know. I had such a rough time with this chapter and look -- I stayed up until three in the morning to finish it for you guys! Surely that redeems me in some way, yes? _

_Anyway, groveling for forgiveness aside, PLEASE tell me what you think. I'm not even kidding. Let me tell you something, I usually dislike authors who bother their reviewers for reviews. Especially when they threaten to not post or some such thing. I won't ever do that, but all the same, guys -- is it really that difficult or time-consuming to leave me just a bit of feedback or a statement? I once got a review with two words in it and it made me feel giddy for the rest of the day. Giddy, I tell you._

_I think you guys sometimes underestimate the effect that your feedback can have on the author. Sometimes, it's not even a matter of what you write, per se, but just the fact that you're letting the author know that SOMEONE is reading his or her stuff and enjoying it. You have more power than you think, haha -- I'm so cheesy, aren't I?_

_The next chapter will be better, I think, mostly because Riku will be in it again. Hopefully I'm keeping these guys in character, as I seem to have been doing so far (I believe). And last but not least, I really hope you guys are enjoying this story!_

_Thanks for tuning in,_

a quirky little tune


	4. Nook

**Fan Number 61**

by _a quirky little tune_

* * *

When Sora became king of the world (as he was the saviour of a couple different worlds, this was not so much a ridiculous declaration as it was a slightly scary promise), he would make it illegal for people to be awake before eight o'clock in the morning. Because honestly, as a true sleep enthusiast, Sora could not understand for the life of him why anyone would want to stop sleeping to get up _early_ – let alone why a whole board of administrators would dictate that all high school students get their butts to school by seven.

Seven.

Seven in the _morning_.

Sora thought he had met some pretty evil beings and creatures over the past two years, but apparently the worst kind of evil (the legal kind) had been waiting for him right at home – the sneaks.

"Is he okay?"

Honestly, what was the point in being the keyblade master and risking his life countless times over to restore worlds that simply wanted to torture him in times of peace? The least the school board could do to thank him for saving their butts from nonexistence would be to let him sleep in, damnit! The fact that the school board had never known they had been in danger in the first place was unimportant, really.

"I think so. He's been out of it since he got here this morning."

"Hm. Sora? Soraaaa?"

His head hurt. Seriously hurt. His body was slow and unresponsive and his brain was like the mushy cereal he managed to squeeze down earlier. Ick. Mushy brain cereal.

"_Sora_."

What kind of keyblade master had mushy brain cereal? If he was expected to be competent at all times to save the worlds on a whim, then for crying out loud –

"SORA!"

"WHOA!" Sora jerked his head urpight and blinked blearily at an amused Riku. The older boy smirked at him quite meanly and poked him in the cheek. "Ow, you jerk, what was that for?"

"It was for your own good, my man, your own good." When he noticed Sora did not look too convinced, he raised an eyebrow and continued, "Sora, you were so out of it, Xemnas could have come in wearing Selphie's yellow bikini and you wouldn't have even noticed," Riku half chuckled and half grimaced at his own imagery. "A best friend's gotta do what a best friend's gotta do, after all."

Sora made a face. "I don't know where you came up with the imagery, and I don't think I ever want to know. Just promise me you will never mention that picture again."

Riku scowled, then considered the image once more and winced. "Fair enough."

Kairi laughed at their conversation and seated herself besides her brunet friend, fitting her slight body quite nicely in the corner of the hallway nook they had unofficially dubbed their 'Play Hallway' (Riku had protested against such a cheesy mock up title of their Play Island, but had been ignored by two fiercely amused best friends). She placed her school briefcase next to her and undid the small latch. "You look exhausted, Sora."

"That's an understatement," Riku added in, leaning, as he always did, against the wall with style. How anyone could 'lean with style' was beyond Sora, but it was obviously possible, as evidenced by Riku Karada.

"Thanks, guys," Sora mumbled, trying to stretch the sleepiness out of his body. "Really 'preciate th' kind words…"

Riku didn't respond for a moment, expression distant but eyes understanding as they focused on a random point on the opposite wall. "You didn't… have any nightmares or anything last night, did you?"

Nightmares. What an ugly title for such ugly things. Maybe a few years ago, Sora would have been embarrassed by the concession that he still suffered from nightmares, but two years in battle for the good of the universe had shown him they were far worse things. And maybe a few years ago, Riku would have teased Sora about his bad dreams, but two years battling against the darkness and against himself had taught him that the darkness that sheltered nightmares was very much something to take seriously.

Sora shook his head and moved to sit with his knees pulled to his chest. "Nope. Just the opposite, actually." He shoved his head into the crook of his folded arms, hiding the soft blush and tiny quirk of his lips as he remembered his dream. Remembered _who_ that dream was about.

Riku and Kairi shared a look over Sora's head and shrugged. Turning her attention to her open bag, Kairi dug through her books to retrieve her Biology notebook to attempt some extra study questions. Riku angled his body to face Sora better, crossing his arms and completely prepared to tease his weird best friend some more when he heard a sharp intake of breath. He glanced over to Kairi, then smoothly situated himself to look over her shoulder.

"What's up?" he asked, concerned when he turned and saw the rather pinched look on her face.

"Nothin –Hey!" Kairi gaped, as the notebook she had been subtly shoving back into her briefcase was snatched from her hands. Riku scrutinized her tenseness and decidedly flipped through the pages, Sora picking up his heavy head from his arms to watch the proceedings with confusion.

Riku didn't notice anything unusual until he got halfway through the notebook. He stopped to peer at one particular page, angry black words written in permanent marker glaring against the white paper. Slurs and insults were written directly over Kairi's organized notes, filling up the page and several consecutive pages after it.

Sora had now joined Riku, sleepiness all but gone as he glanced at the words with a shocked look on his face and a serious light in his eyes. Kairi sighed and wondered what she could possibly say to delay what she knew was coming.

"This isn't that bad," Kairi finally offered tentatively, making to take her notebook back. Without even averting his eyes from the graffiti, Riku held the offensive item off to the side, out of Kairi's reach. The redhead huffed.

"Isn't – isn't bad? Kairi, someone wrote horrible, awful things about you!" Sora finally cried indignantly, surprise gone and anger taking its place. He continued, spluttering, "In _your_ _own_ _notebook_!"

The young girl gave a strained smile. "I think I can recognize my own notebook, you goofball."

Riku turned to the last page, read the very last insulting word, seemed to absorb what was written with an iron expression on his face, then quietly shut the notebook. He slammed it on the linoleum floor, the sharp _fwap_ of its collision doing nothing to distract him from his emotions.

Riku was pissed. He was beyond pissed, he was downright infuriated. Incensed. _Enraged_. Not only was Kairi a close enough friend to be considered a younger sister of sorts, but she was also one of the most supportive and, to risk sounding cliché, _pure_ beings he had ever had the fortune to meet. She had been the catalyst in the very beginning, forcing him to dream big even though he lived small. She had been one of the first to accept him as he was, even when he was afraid to accept himself. She had been one of the first to help him truly cope with what he had done after he had taken on the guise of Ansem. No kid deserved harassment like this at school… and to do such a thing to Kairi, of all people—

It was both a morbid exaggeration and a frightening threat when Riku thought he would like to blow something up to make him feel better.

"_Who_ the hell would write this stuff about you?" Sora asked, heat in his voice and his eyes ablaze. Riku was now wondering the exact same thing. Kairi hesitated for a second.

"I don't… know."

Something in that reply didn't sound right, as if Kairi was hesitating with the name of the bully on the tip of her tongue, rather than hesitating in true ignorance of the answer. The silver haired boy finally opened his mouth before Sora could take the bait, trusting as the kid was. "Really? To me, it sounds like you _do_ know. Or at least have a suspicion." His eyes met hers straight on and nearly commanded her to tell the truth. "Actually," Riku said tightly, "considering your response – or lack thereof – when you first opened this notebook, I'm beginning to think that this isn't the first time something like this has happened."

Both boys had shuffled closer and closer to her as the questioning had continued, so much so that they were now towering over her in her seat. Kairi knew better than to ever be intimidated by them, but nevertheless pursed her lips and turned her head the other way to avoid their displeased faces. "I'm a big girl, guys," she replied sharply, "and I can take care of myself."

"Whether or not you can take care of yourself is not the issue here. Sora and I know full well just how capable you are. But you're stupid to think we're just gonna let this go because you say you have this under control," Riku told her in a lighter tone, pushing back the anger and impatience. "C'mon, Kairi – how long have you known the two of us?"

"And how often have we have we ever given in?" Sora continued, resting a limp arm on Riku's closest shoulder. The pair made quite the sight, grinning slightly and the sides of their heads nearly touching from their pose.

"Point," the redheaded girl muttered dryly, sighing as she finally put away the incriminating notebook. She got to her feet as well and shoved an irritated finger in the boys' direction. "Since you're being totally blockheads about this –"

Sora beamed, "Of course!"

And Riku smirked, "Naturally."

Kairi huffed and tried to conceal a small laugh. "No interruptions from the blockheads!" They both tried to look contrite, Sora going overboard with the expression and Riku failing miserably in general. Kairi smiled affectionately at the two before continuing, "Anyway, as I was saying… I guess I have no choice but to tell you. But since I'm coming clean, you gotta both do me a favor and not go beserk when I tell you."

"Deal," they answered, their timing slightly off, but their sentiments exactly the same.

"In answer to your question, Riku…" She shifted uncomfortably and grimaced. "Yes, this isn't the first time I was bullied. It all started about two weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sora asked gently, pulling Kairi closer with his arm over her shoulders.

"I was going to, at first – out of sheer confusion, if nothing else. I mean, the hazing came out of nowhere and I was more bewildered at the beginning than angry," Kairi replied. She brushed some hair out of her face and actually began to look annoyed. "But I realized after the second day who was bothering me and honestly didn't think it worthy of any mention."

Riku's jaw clicked. "Who is it?"

Here Kairi started to look a little apprehensive; apparently, she had been hoping rather futilely that they would drop the subject at that. "Okay, the real reason why I didn't say a word is because I knew Riku would get mad. Really, really, realllllyyy mad."

Sora frowned. Uh-oh, this could get ugly then…

"_Kairi_. _Who_. _Is_. _It._"

"That stupid fanclub of yours," Kairi muttered quickly, looking off to the side.

It took a second to process. Sora felt his lips twitching in surprise and saw Riku go blank. Then, Riku's face transformed into an expression of open disgust. He had barely tolerated the DaiRiZu beforehand, thinking the whole club to be pointless and shallow, but overall harmless with their intent; now, they were going back on their word and showing their true selfish tendencies – tendencies that included bashing his best friend. What was next? Would they target Sora, too?

Riku's eyes darkened drastically.

Hell.

No.

Sora noticed that Riku had his actual feelings painted on his face, instead of holding them behind a mask of stoicism, and knew things had gone straight past Ugly and into DANGER! He hurriedly tried to think up a distraction. "Kairi, how did you know for sure?" he questioned.

"They left me a note after they soaked my shoes with sea water," she stated simply, picking up her bag and rummaging through a side pocket. "And a few feet away from my locker, one of them was dumb enough to drop this." She held up one of the infamous DaiRiZu keychains along with a wrinkled note. Riku snatched the note from her fingers while Sora took the keychain. The name DaiRiZu was printed in bright blue ink over a weirdly angled picture of Riku playing basketball in the school yard, ball in hand and a look of concentration dominating his face as he prepared to take a shot.

… the picture was obviously a candid taken in a hurry, but it wasn't that bad of a photo altogether. Riku's look of concentration was something Sora had always admired, as it always forced people to take Riku seriously, age and pretty hair aside.

Riku's venomous voice broke into his thoughts; the older teen read the note carefully and slowly and quite murderously. "_Dear SLUT, we really don't appreciate you being so close to Riku. You're always hanging around guys and we can see right through your act. You should consider staying away from Riku in the future –stop taking him away from other people and monopolizing his attention. Remember, we'll be watching you, bitch!_ … And the rest of this lovely letter proceeds in the same manner."

"I honestly don't care about that at all," Kairi said calmly, "though it did help me figure out why I was being picked on all of a sudden. This letter is crap and I'm definitely not hurt by any of it. Actually, quite the contrary…" She let out a laugh. "They think I'm trying to _be_ with Riku – that I'm flirting with him – that we have something together. Between _us_!" The ridiculousness of that scenario made it hard for Kairi to breathe through her giggling. Sora grinned, relieved that this whole matter was simply aggravating to Kairi and nothing more serious.

Riku cracked a small, tight-lipped smile at her amusement, but could honestly not find any part of him inclined to think this situation was funny at all. His face slipped back into a glower immediately.

Kairi sighed and looked straight at the silver haired boy. "Don't be too angry at the DaiRiZu, Riku, I'm pretty sure it's only a few of them acting out. You've got like fifty members in that club of yours these days and if all of them had declared war on me, I would've been pranked every minute of every day."

"So… some of the members have gone rogue?" Sora asked with a thoughtful tone. That would make much more sense than fifty plus kids suddenly uniting in their hatred for Kairi.

"Yeah," the girl answered confidently. "I mean, think about it. The whole point of the DaiRiZu, supposedly, is to join together admirers of Riku and support him with all their might. It's really actually a pretty selfless fanclub – they're finding comrades with a similar interest – namely, our stud Riku, here – and are helping him from afar without suffocating him. But when it comes to feelings of the heart, it's easy to want more; I figure, some kids just got tired of being of equal importance with everybody else and wanted more attention from their crush."

"Logical or not, I will _not_ tolerate this," Riku breathed fiercely, taking the keychain from Sora's hand and chucking it on the floor. "Rest assured, if I can't force the whole damn club to shut down, I'll be sure to write a very scorching letter for that mailbox of theirs." He placed a heavy hand on Kairi's head, ruffling her hair slightly. He smiled at apologetically and said, "I'm really sorry this happened because of my dumbass admirers, Kairi. You definitely didn't deserve any of this."

Kairi smiled back and pushed his hand off her head playfully. "I know that, Riku. Don't go taking blame for this, either, because it's not your fault. Sure, it's annoying, but I personally also think this whole thing is downright hilarious."

The older boy rolled his eyes, his sea-green irises finally returning to their normal, clear color. "You're kind of a dummy, Kairi." He avoided her flying hand smugly. "Okay, guys, I guess I've got a letter to write – I'll see you later at lunch." He shared one final grin with Kairi, then waved to Sora, before booking it out of their hallway nook.

Sora waited approximately a beat or two before whirling around to give Kairi a rather critical eye. "I know you didn't want to upset Riku because you knew he would feel guilty and stuff, so I want the truth now. How are you feeling about this, really?"

The girl huffed. "I mean, I don't want Riku to feel bad or anything and I definitely don't want him ticked off, but I wouldn't _lie_ to you guys! I'm fine! So far, they've been really simple pranks – wet shoes, stolen pencil cases, graffitied books, stupid letters, and – oh! Someone stole my beanie hat the other day, but I'm pretty sure that was just Selphie." Kairi chuckled. When she saw that Sora still looked at her with some worry, she laughed even louder and shook him by the shoulders. "Se-ri-ous-ly! I AM FINE. It's nothing I can't handle and, considering the mood Riku's in, I'm sure that letter of his will help."

The brunet ran a hand through his spikes and sighed. "Alright, alright, I believe you! I'm still mad that they would do something like this to you, though, whoever they are!" He pouted in frustration and Kairi took the opportunity to poke his cheek.

"Let's just talk about something else," she suggested cheerfully, hooking her arm through his with ease. "Like how you're going to come shopping with me today to find my gift for Riku's birthday next week. Unlike _some_ people, Riku Karada is not the love of my life and I can't just think of amazing presents off the top of my head."

Sora flushed. "H-hey, it wasn't off the top of my head! Riku's still really hard to shop for, I just… I just had some good ideas this year, that's all."

"Well, that's fine and dandy for yo—"

"And he's NOT the LOVE of my life!" Sora protested loudly with his face as hot as the Destiny Islands sun, having just realizing what Kairi had said. Kairi laughed hysterically, about to continue teasing him when the bell for homeroom rang. Her expression of amusement dropped faster than a flying Peter Pan without fairy dust.

"SHOOT!" she shrieked, disentangling their arms nimbly. "I have that Biology test next period and I was gonna study with those extra questions and I forgot, forgot, _forgot_, I am SO DEAD!" She raced off towards her classroom and left Sora, bewildered, all alone in their nook.

He slowly grabbed his own stuff, knowing his teacher, Mr. Menz, rarely cared about tardiness, as he took attendance at the end of homeroom instead of at the beginning. As he retrieved his bag from the floor, he noticed the forgotten keychain that Riku had thrown in anger just minutes before. It was just a tiny little trinket from a stupid club (that spawned delusional rebels out to get Kairi, of all people). What did he care?

… But it _was_ a nice picture of Riku, there was no denying that…

Sora swiped it from the ground before he could convince himself otherwise, thrust it into his deep shorts pocket, and walked away to class feeling as if he couldn't get anymore pathetic.

* * *

GUYS, GUYS, I UPDATED! FINALLY, I UPDATED!

... Yeah, I'm really really really sorry this time, as I am every time. I'm really trying not to be so lazy with my fanfiction, but it's hard to balance it between real life and all that jazz. Like, right now, I'm supposed to be doing an English project (due Friday, which I haven't even started), but got hit with the muse to finally finish this chapter. As you can see, real life did not win.

I'm curious to see how you guys will receive this addition, especially as it was kind of Kairi-centered in a way. This was pretty important for the little bit of plot I have for this story, so I hope you enjoyed it! Whether you did or didn't, please leave me some feedback either way- it would be very much appreciated. Sorry about the cursing in this chapter, by the way, but I thought it appropriate.

Hope you guys all had a great holiday and New Year! Thank you for sticking with this story and its pain in the ass authoress, haha!

_a quirky little tune_


	5. Beach

**Fan Number 61**

by _a quirky little tune_

* * *

The sun set slowly and heavily, disappearing into the waves without a fuss. Sora sighed and stretched his long legs out on the sandy shore of Play Island. His right hand absentmindedly grabbed some warm sand and slowly let the grains slip through his fingers. His other hand crept guiltily to the pocket where he had stored the keychain. He hesitated a moment, then pulled it out.

A small feeling of discomfort washed over him and his brow furrowed. Why had he taken this piece of crappy plastic? He was such a loser. His feelings for Riku had led him to snatching up a cheap trinket off the dirty hallway floor – even he hadn't realized that his crush was getting _that_ bad.

He moved to toss it into the waves before him. His arm followed through, but his fingers refused to release their hold and he was stuck feeling even more foolish, if possible, than he had just a few seconds before. Shaking his head, he stared intently at the candid shot of Riku and resolved to throw the keychain away as soon as he got home. No excuses.

"Whatcha got there, So-ra?"

Sora twitched in surprise and didn't move fast enough to keep the inquisitive hand from snaking the keychain from his grasp. He wildly flailed, trying to get it back from the giggling brunette who had snuck up behind him.

"Selphie, ack - ! Don't look at – it's not mine, I just found it, y'know, at – at scho-"

Selphie jumped back from Sora, earning herself a little distance, and inspected her winnings. A big grin split across her face and she sighed most romantically. "Awww! Sora, were you really just mooning over a badly taken, miniaturized photo of Riku?"

Eyes wide, Sora blinked. "Uh, no?"

Selphie laughed and threw the keychain back into Sora's lap. She sat herself down next to him, placed her school bag on her outstretched legs, and gave him a friendly punch to the shoulder. "You are just too darn cute, Sora! Pining over Riku like that – why, it makes me want to matchmake!"

"NO," Sora cut in, horrified. "Wakka still runs away and hides from that crazy chick you tried setting him up with a few months ago –"

"How was I supposed to know she had a mental history? Her family kept it very hush-hush," Selphie muttered unhappily.

Sora continued, "_And_ Kairi's most recent ex-boyfriend is still sending Riku love sonnets."

"Okay, that was _definitely_ not my fault! I really thought he liked _Kairi_ – how was I supposed to know that he secretly had a thing for silver headed jackasses!"

"Selphie!" the brunet said, appalled.

Selphie smiled at him sweetly. "Hey, I love Riku just as much as – well, okay, not as much as you, apparently, but a decent amount. I love him enough to admit that he is, indeed, a jackass – sincere affections prompt me to be honest, you see?" Her eyes twinkled disarmingly. "But, by all means, go ahead defending his honor."

Sora put his hands to his face and groaned and allowed his body to tip over onto its side. Anything to escape the sure-to-be-mortifying conversation with the island's resident gossip and all-around meddler, Selphie Tilmitt.

She poked him in his side, hard. "You can't hide from this conversation, bub. I want all the details about you and Riku! Spill."

Sitting up and attempting to brush the sand from his hair and clothes, Sora grumbled miserably, "There are no details to tell."

"Well, there must be _something_. Otherwise, you wouldn't have joined the DaiRiZu, right?"

"I am no way a part of that horrible, horrible – um –"

"Horrible?" Selphie supplied dryly.

"Yes, horrible! That – that horrible excuse for a fan club!" Sora sputtered, outraged at the very suggestion that he would take part in a club that was exasperating one friend and harassing the other. He paused a moment. "What made you think that, though?"

Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, Selphie unzipped her bag's side pocket and rummaged through her miscellaneous collection of junk. Finally, she pulled out a round pin that had the very same picture of Riku playing basketball dominating its front. Sora stared at it and let the cogs turn in his head.

"Hey, that's…" _a DaiRiZu pin._

"Yup."

"Just like…" _the keychain Kairi showed us in the hallway today. _Sora idly wished that his brain would pick up the pace and actually complete a full sentence sometime soon.

"Yup."

"But that would mean…"

"That I'm a part of the DaiRiZu fan club? Why, yes I am," Selphie replied cheerfully, as if she hadn't just said something moderately ridiculous. "I'm number 17!"

Thoughts flew a mile a minute in Sora's head. Selphie was actually a part of that psycho group? What had she been doing while Kairi was getting bullied? Sora knew well that Selphie would rather chop off her hair and burn her precious romance novels before ever hurting one of her best friends, but could she possibly know who specifically was pulling all those horrible pranks?

She had a pretty low member number – 17 – which meant she had joined the club relatively early on. Why had she joined in the first place? Did… did she have feelings for Riku? A feeling of dread began churning in the pits of his stomach. He hadn't heard anything about a crush but then again, Kairi _had_ said that Sora's feelings were obvious to everyone except Riku. Maybe Selphie felt it would be too awkward if she told him.

"Ok-ay, you're definitely over thinking things," Selphie muttered, poking Sora in the cheek.

"Why are you – I mean, you don't have – Selphie, tell it to me straight," he said with difficulty, hating how all coherency had been apparently stolen from him at the beginning of this conversation.

Despite his babbling, Selphie seemed to understand what he was getting at and she rolled her eyes. "Geez, Sora, I'm not in love with Riku, if that's what you're trying to get at. I wouldn't dare paw at your man. I just happen to like free merchandise."

"You joined for the _keychains_?"

She hummed appreciatively. "Welllll, yeah. And the pens and the pins and the headbands, too. I just didn't realize how low quality they were until after, unfortunately… See, one of my friends from English class joined and she knew I was friends with Riku, so she told me all about the club. It sounded ridiculous and fun and I definitely couldn't pass up the rare opportunity to join a _real_ fan club – even though it was for Riku, of all people. Plus, it was early enough that they were still handing out the keychains and the pens and stuff."

"Selphie," Sora started cautiously, unsure of how much she knew, "has Kairi told you about all that hazing she's gone through lately?"

"Yeah, about that," Selphie muttered darkly, crossing her arms and suddenly looking very peeved, "She didn't tell me herself, but I heard some rumors about it floating around the DaiRiZu. I confronted her immediately and she came clean – I was outraged, of course, but when I tried to track down the sources of those rumors, I couldn't get anywhere. No one really knew who was actually heading all the pranks. So I decided to stay in the club until I caught the bullies responsible." She cracked her knuckles and managed to look quite threatening despite her childlike appearance.

Sora grinned and thought back to the days when Selphie ran around Play Island, whipping her jump rope around to keep Tidus in line. She may not carry her weapon of choice on her at all times anymore, but Selphie was nothing if not a creative brat.

"You should join me, Sora."

"Yeah, I-" Sora paused and thought hard. "Wait, wait, join you _how_?"

"Sabotaging the DaiRiZu from the inside, of course!"

Goofy and naïve as Sora may be, an idiot he was not. "But that would mean I'd have to _join_ Riku's fan club."

Her little, slightly intimidating fists planted themselves on her hips. "You want to help Kairi, don't you?" she asked accusingly.

Sora said, "… Yes, of course."

"And you love Riku, don't you?"

Sora blanched. "I wouldn't call it love, really –"

She ignored him. "So what's the problem here?"

Thumbing the smooth plastic of the keychain in his hand, he shot her a very pointed look. "C'mon, Selphie, there's a line between liking someone and joining their fan club. I don't have to join his club and get free key trinkets with his face on them to prove that I like Riku."

"You make a fair point," Selphie conceded, twirling a piece of her hair. "Fine, don't think about joining the DaiRiZu because of Riku then. Just think of it as a way of protecting Kairi. A lot of the members won't really share any information with me because we grew up together."

"And how will I get that information any easier? In case you haven't noticed, I'm one of Riku's closest friends," Sora pointed out, feeling lost.

Here, Selphie hesitated slightly. She said softly, "They'll probably see you as less of a threat, because, well, the fan club is made up of mostly girls… No one really knows what preference Riku is, but most of the members assume that he's straight. There's kind of a double standard. They think that if Riku really was gay, then he would have already come on to you by this point, since you guys are childhood friends. But when it comes to Riku's _female_ childhood friends, they think that he might 'grow into' his feelings as he sees them becoming mature women, or some stupid nonsense like that." She winced as she watched Sora's shoulders gradually drop and hurried to add, "Not that any of that bullshit is supposed to matter – technically, the club is only for supporting Riku, not for actively pursuing him."

Selphie's explanation was everything Sora knew and was trying to convince himself of, but had dreaded to hear coming from someone else. He couldn't say that he was altogether shocked at her words, but his chest felt heavy hearing them said aloud.

"No. No, they're right to assume that. Riku's probably straight. Or, at the very least, if he was ever remotely interested in me, he would have done something to let me know," Sora said with a heavy sigh, looking especially despondent with the puppyish look he had on his face. Selphie bit her lip and mentally smacked herself for saying those things so bluntly.

She nudged his shoulder with her leg and tried to make him look up to see the sincerity in her expression. "Listen, Sora, don't say crap like that. Who cares what those kids assume about Riku? They don't really know the first thing about him – I mean, they spend their days finding out what kind of movies he likes and the books he reads and the food he eats, but you already know all that stuff. Not because you watched him from afar or because you asked someone else – you know all that stuff because Riku shared it with you. He's shared his whole life with you, you know? All of his experiences are your experiences and vice versa. Honestly, don't take the DaiRiZu's opinion seriously, because if anyone knows our Riku, it's you, not them."

Sora ran sandy fingers through his hair. He thought carefully about the words he wanted to say, because while Selphie had made very valid points, there was still something that killed him. "I know you say that I know Riku better than all of the DaiRiZu members combined, and I can't really argue with that." He paused and pursed his lips in frustration. "It's just – that's kind of the problem, Selphie. Like, I've been with Riku for as long as I can remember and even I don't know his preference. Dating has never been important to him, besides that brief period when we both liked Kairi at the same time. Back then, I knew immediately when Riku started to like her without him ever having to tell me. Shouldn't it be the same now? If Riku does like me, then shouldn't I already know?"

He stared out into the dark water moodily and realized he should probably get home soon. In some ways, talking with Selphie had been a huge help. It also made him feel emotionally exhausted. He stood and turned to her, taken aback by the look of pure struggle on her face.

Selphie exhaled loudly, irritably, and muttered something about, "If only I hadn't sworn on my jump rope…" She cleared her throat and said confidently, "Sora, I know this is a scary territory for you, but trust me. You're a pretty observant guy when you're on the outside – but this time, I think you're just a little too close to the situation and that's why you can't see what is so freakin' obvious to anyone who knows you or Riku."

Before he could really question what that meant, Selphie grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the dock where they had left their boats. She began chattering incessantly, eyes wide and smile bright as Sora stumbled along, trying to keep up.

" – So, I'll let the DaiRiZu leaders know you're interested tomorrow –"

Stunned, Sora dug his heels in the sand so suddenly that Selphie nearly fell face forward into the ground. "Whoa, Selphie, I never said I was going to join!"

She stared him down. "You didn't say you _weren't_ going to do it."

He remained unmoved. "Yes, I did. I said –" His brain stuttered to a stop. When he really thought about it, he had never outright stated that he wasn't going to join. He tried to switch tactics. "C'mon, Selphie, don't you think I'm suffering enough without Riku's fan club on my case?"

"Do you want to help Kairi?" she asked in frustration, very close to stomping her foot.

He crossed his arms and said, "Yes, of course I do, but there are other ways –"

"This is the _easiest_ way –"

"It's _embarrassing_, that's what it is –"

"No one will ever know, Sora –"

"Look, I'm just not comfortable –"

"SORA. Do you _want_ me to matchmake? Because I can. To the best of my ability. Starting tomorrow."

The brunet paused, swallowed audibly, and dropped his arms down to his sides. Riku would never find out, right? It was a big risk to take, though. Because if Riku found out he was in the DaiRiZu, he would know that Sora liked him and, consequently, that Sora had no courage to tell Riku himself. Not to mention that any kind thought for the DaiRiZu had died in Riku the moment they started picking on Kairi. He would lose Riku's regard, friendship, and respect in one fell swoop.

Then again, if Selphie started matchmaking, then Riku would _definitely_ find out about Sora's feelings and things would _definitely_ go badly – as much as the girl lived off romance novels, she wasn't very good at… well, anything romance related. It was a well-known fact that all of the relationships that Selphie tried to help along crashed and burned horribly from the very start.

In the end, Sora reluctantly supposed he should go along with the DaiRiZu plan. Riku may never find out about Sora's membership and even if he did, Sora was definitely skilled enough to hold off Riku's attacks long enough to explain that he had join solely to help Kairi find her bullies. He wasn't the Keyblade Master for nothing, after all.

He scratched the back of his head and had to give a chuckle at his own thoughts. A few months ago, Sora had been concerned over the wellbeing of the universe and all the worlds it contained. Now he was seriously considering his crush and all things high school to be the end all, be all of problems. Beforehand, he worried that he would never be able to see or talk to Riku ever again. And now… Now he was worried that Riku might get a little angry with him? Sora laughed.

It was kind of funny how life worked out. When it came down to it, he'd rather have Riku mad at him than not having Riku around at all. He'd rather be facing typical high school drama than wondering if he'd ever finish school at all. He felt silly for losing sight of what was really important all this time. Putting his current issues into perspective, he felt a lot better about things in general and was finally able to give Selphie a genuine smile.

"Okay," he said confidently, arms behind his head as he literally felt the funk surrounding him disappear, "you've got yourself a new DaiRiZu member." He thrust out his hand to shake on it.

The girl looked a little confused at Sora's seemingly random laughing and change of heart, but didn't dwell on those things for too long. She giggled, shook his hand enthusiastically, and immediately began sharing her plan of attack with her newest co-conspirator.

* * *

_So. It's truly been a while. You all deserve the most heartfelt of apologies, but I'm sure you're very sick of them by now. There are tons of reasons for me not updating, but none really excuse me, and for that, I'm extremely sorry. Life gets in the way, as I'm sure you all know, but there are plenty of times where I've just been lazy and unmotivated; you all deserve better than that._

_Good news is that there are about three or four chapters left to this story and I know the basic outlines for all of them. I've been on a writing spree lately and I've really been working hard to finish stories before I post any of them. I'm going to try my damnedest to get the next installment out for you as soon as possible and then I'll focus on my other stories. None of my works are abandoned, I PROMISE._

_If you're still reading this little story, then I feel so grateful. I just hope someone out there is enjoying it - and I hope that this chapter keeps up the previous standard of characterization and writing style. Selphie wasn't really supposed to be such a huge part in this chapter and the whole discussion was not supposed to be emotional or deep in any way. It just kind of wrote itself like this, so I hope it reads alright to you guys. _

_Thank you for all the support and kind reviews. You guys make every excruciating word, every painful writer's block, every inspiration, every hour of writing worth it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! _

_Love,_

**a quirky little tune**


	6. Unknown?

**Fan Number 61**

by _a quirky little tune_

* * *

"Sora Hikari."

"Uh, present?" Sora said as he peered around the mostly dark room in bewilderment. He could have sworn that he saw the silhouette of Selphie's distinctive hairstyle in the corner, but it escaped from sight behind other innocuous shadows.

"You are here to join the DaiRiZu." It wasn't a question and Sora couldn't help but be amused. The whole situation, in general, was pretty ridiculous and the leaders of the DaiRiZu trying to act intimidating was especially ridiculous when compared to staring down Xemnas in a world that teetered on the edge of existence.

"Yes," he replied strongly, having absolutely nothing to fear from high school kids playing secret society. He cast another look about the dim room. "Um, excuse me, where exactly are we?"

"Unimportant. State your reasoning."

Sora blinked at both the brush off and the demand that followed. "I'm sorry?"

"Your reasoning for joining the DaiRiZu."

"You mean I have to be _interviewed_ to join a fan club?" Sora cried out, aghast. He had thought the blindfolding and the spinning and the being shoved into a random classroom after school ended was overkill, but this really took the cake. He'd expected a sign-in sheet, or a brief orientation on the history of Riku's amazingness or something – not a cultish setting in which he was _grilled_ and _evaluated_ for membership.

There was a slight pause, as if the DaiRiZu leaders were taken aback by his response. Sora supposed that a lot of the new inductees probably were a little more shocked and intimidated by the whole secret society/cult aspect of it and didn't really protest against anything. Then, one of the female leaders replied in her most booming voice, "The DaiRiZu has reached unanticipated levels of membership. To keep things manageable and to make sure that all members are sincere in accomplishing the DaiRiZu's ultimate goal, we decided to make the membership process a bit more… thorough. Please answer the question, Sora Hikari. What is your reasoning for joining the DaiRiZu?"

Sora blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Free merchandise?" He could vaguely hear Selphie giggling somewhere in the back, roughly around the exact second he realized that it was probably not the best answer to give. He quickly added, "To admire. I would admire the free merchandi – that is – I mean, to always have a piece of Riku with me."

There was a long pause. Sora felt it was tinged with disapproval of his butchered answer. "Sora Hikari… we normally do not let a potential member's identity outside of the club affect his or her application – equal opportunity fan club, you see – but in your case, we find we must ask. You are known to be one of Riku's closest childhood friends, arguably his closest. Why are you joining the DaiRiZu?"

Sora felt glad for the dim lighting, he could feel his tanned cheeks heating up. He couldn't believe that he was about to tell a room filled with possible rivals and nutcases and stalkers he didn't even know what he couldn't gather enough courage to tell his best friend in the entirety of the universe.

"Sora Hikari?" Damn, they were starting to sound impatient.

He cleared his throat. Courage, Sora, courage! "Uh, I… you know… I want to j-join for the same reason anyone else wants to join. I have feelings for him… for Riku." Everyone in the room had most likely already guessed this fact, but Sora saying it aloud seemed to cause a bit of a commotion.

The leaders broke character and finally spoke in normal tones. "You're serious? Like, for real serious?"

Sora gaped and wondered whether or not he should feel insulted. "Yes, I'm serious. Why else would I be here?"

"You could just be here as a joke or something," muttered one of the female leaders.

"Yeah," Sora replied in disbelief, "_Right_. Because I would do all of this – allow you to tie me up, spin me around, push me around, and then interrogate me – for a few laughs."

"Exactly!" the boy replied.

A different boy, one whose voice was familiar and who Sora thought might be in his fourth period math class, spoke up. "C'mon, it's not fair for us to question his feelings for Riku like this. We didn't do this to the other applicants."

"_I_ think it's romantic!" a girl stated loudly and Sora blushed.

"Yeah, very romantic!" That had definitely been Selphie, from somewhere in the background. She always had to add to the chaos, didn't she?

As put off as he felt in being doubted and called a liar, Sora didn't really want to cause this much of a scene. He jerked a thumb towards a random direction – he still couldn't tell what room they were currently in, let alone where the exit would be – and asked, "Do you guys want me to leave?"

Someone switched on the light and the sudden brightness made everyone cringe a little. Sora looked around, seeing people he recognized, but very few that he actually knew himself, and took stock of the meeting room. It was one of the generic classrooms that had its desks and chairs all stacked and pushed to the far walls. Someone had gathered large cardboard boxes and placed them against the window, trapping out most of the natural light. It spoke of a lot of effort and once again Sora wondered what kind of mess he was signing up for.

A brown haired girl who Sora thought to be in the graduating class held out her hand and said, "No, Sora, stay. You're being judged unfairly here. I think we should let him join."

"You guys can't just ignore the fact that he's Riku's best friend. I mean, did any of you realize that he had feelings for Riku before this meeting? It's just too sudden, too suspicious – it smells like a prank or a set up or something!"

"Plus, we asked him why he wanted to join and he said 'free merchandise' at first! Doesn't sound like he's serious to me!"

"He was just nervous, we freak all of the applicants out –"

"I bet he's joining for kicks so he can laugh at all of us with all of his other friends!"

Sora knew that most kids his age had a tendency for the dramatic, but this was far beyond any of his expectations. He didn't think even _he_ had been this paranoid when fighting for his life. "Seriously, I can just go –"

A loud whistle pierced the jumbled conversation, followed by a shrill, "HEY!" All eyes turned towards Selphie, who had jumped on top of a chair she had pulled from the wall. Sora could see from her eyes just how much she was enjoying the drama unfolding before her and her own role in it. She placed her fists on her hips and said, "I'm one of Riku's childhood friends, too, you know. You guys let _me_ in, why not Sora?"

One of the dissenting members hesitated, then said, "She's got a point…"

"If he doesn't take it seriously, we can always just kick him out," a girl suggested, giving Sora a reassuring smile.

The five main leaders reconvened in front of the blackboard and discussed quietly. Selphie winked at Sora and the boy shrugged in return. Honestly, at this point, he would either be accepted or spared the insanity and, at that moment, he wasn't sure which one he preferred. Everyone finally seemed to come to a consensus and fourth-period-math-class-boy stepped forward.

"Sora Hikari, we've thought it over and found that we shouldn't jump the gun and assume things of you before they even happen. We also don't think we have the right to say whether or not your feelings are genuine, solely because you're good friends with Riku," he announced with a small smile on his face. "We would like to apologize and formally welcome you into the DaiRiZu!"

Sora smiled back and shook the kid's hand; a smattering of applause filled the room, though he could tell by glancing at some of the faces that a few members disapproved. It all seemed so self-important, so silly, that he had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing aloud. A small hand clapped him on the back in celebration and the spiky haired brunet turned around to see Selphie beaming at him. She grabbed onto his arm and began chattering a mile a minute.

"I told you that you could do it, didn't I? And now you're a member! Congratulations, Sora," she said with a giggle, pulling him in front of a table that held a stack of papers and a few pens. "You just have to fill out your form and then you'll receive your membership number."

Sora sighed. _Of course_ there was paperwork. Considering everything else this psycho club came up with, he really shouldn't have expected otherwise. Simultaneously grabbing the paper and the shoddy pen, which was decorated with the club's title and Riku's name, he begin filling in the information. Hesitantly, he supplied his address and phone number, disliking the idea that they were asking for such details but realizing that most of the members probably already knew where he lived regardless. It was a pretty small island, after all, and he was a relatively well-known kid. He signed the bottom line with a steady hand, bit his lip, and hoped that whoever needed to read his form could understand his chicken scratch. Selphie grabbed it out of his hands and delivered it to a leader holding a thick red marker. She skimmed it to make sure he had filled out every question then wrote a big **61** at the top.

Someone handed him a familiar looking key chain and pin and it all suddenly felt very official. He was in the DaiRiZu.

He was Riku's fan number 61.

* * *

_Look, an update on time! Pretty amazing, huh? See, I can do this, I can do this! I'm still estimating around 3-4 chapters left. Stick with me, guys, we're almost there!_

_Short chapter, but it was originally supposed to be short, anyway. I hope you enjoyed it! Don't worry, Riku and Kairi and even some of the others will be making their grand reappearances in the next chapter. We're also going to truly get to the meaty stuff soon (read: next chapter), so stay tuned. _

_Once again, thank you so much for reading. An extra special thanks for all of you reviewing as well – I really appreciate every word. I'm very bad at correspondence and replying, but trust me when I say that a single review brightens my day and inspires me. All of you are wonderful!_

_Sincerely,_

**a quirky little tune**


	7. Hallways

**Fan Number 61**

by _a quirky little tune_

* * *

**(BEFORE HOMEROOM)**

It was finally the day of Riku's birthday and Sora felt the usual mix of excitement and anxiety floating around in his stomach. He loved Riku's birthday, simply because it was one of the only days of the year that Sora could get away with acting like the lovesick dog he really was while Riku remained clueless – his older friend just chalked it up to the usual birthday hype. Kairi happened to find it all very amusing and adorable.

And this year – this year was going to be the absolute best. Riku would never know what hit him! Sora had never failed to disappoint in the art of Riku-gift-finding, but his ideas this year were the best he'd ever had.

Sora checked the clock above the school entrance for the nth time in five minutes. He couldn't wait until Kairi got there with their presents and hoped he didn't look as dorky in his impatience as he felt he did. Almost everyone knew that all the care and love in the world would not be able to compensate for Sora's poor skills in gift-wrapping, so it usually fell to Kairi to make his purchases look pretty and suitable the night before the event. Riku was the same way, Sora thought fondly, but the older boy was too proud to have anyone else do his own work – the proof being the numerous poorly wrapped gifts that Riku sheepishly bestowed upon him year after year.

That sort of pride was something they both shared, though they were prideful about different kinds of things. Riku wanted to do everything himself to prove that he was capable of anything. Sora also believed in accomplishing things through one's own means, though he understood, unlike the older boy, that asking for help was sometimes the best option. That sometimes, asking for help showed a different yet equal amount of capability and strength in a person.

Especially when it came to gift-wrapping a present for one's crush. Or so Sora liked to tell himself, anyway. He checked the clock again and bit his lip.

Double doors swung open and caught Sora's attention in the next instant. Kairi spotted him with a bright smile and swung a huge bag of colorfully wrapped gifts in front of her as she moved to his side. She handed him two square boxes, one covered in shiny red paper and the other covered in shiny blue. "The red one," she pointed out, "is the DaiRiZu gift. Blue is the gift you're giving him as Sora."

Sora made a face, but tucked both into his school bag. The DaiRiZu had mandated that everyone should purchase some sort of gift or card to celebrate Riku's birthday, so Sora had taken one of his lesser brilliant ideas and used it as his gift from 'Fan Number 61.' He had given both items to Kairi to wrap and, after she had pestered him for days as to why he was giving more than one present this year, eventually spilled the entire DaiRiZu story.

Kairi had laughed for a good five minutes straight when he told her the short version of the tale, and cracked up for another ten minutes after that when he told her the long version (she couldn't breathe when he detailed the whole initiation process). Then the merciless teasing started, though Sora was too relieved over her good-natured acceptance to be insulted at her ribbing; he was pretty sure that Riku would not take any part of that story half as well as Kairi did.

When she had finally calmed down, the redhead had demanded that Sora keep her updated on all things DaiRiZu-related – however, there really wasn't much to tell. Surprisingly enough, the following few weeks after his initiation were relatively simple and painless. He had to go to two of the DaiRiZu meetings every week, but they usually only lasted twenty or minutes or so, unless there was another initiation being held. Mostly the club had been preparing for Riku's birthday. And not a peep had been heard from the nastier side of the fan club in days. Maybe they too were distracted by the upcoming festivities?

As for Riku, Kairi and Sora had both agreed that, for the time being, it was best that he was left in the dark about Sora's 'undercover work' – especially considering how angry he still was at the fanclub as a whole. He _had_ gotten suspicious a few days ago, wondering why Sora was suddenly skipping out on some of their hang out sessions after school, but Sora had somehow made it seem as if all his absences were due to Riku's birthday preparations and the older boy had thankfully left him alone.

All in all, it was going very smoothly, every last bit of it. And in retrospect, Sora should have seen that as the sign that it truly was – the sign that everything was about to go topsy-turvy, Bizarre Room-style.

"Now, Sora," Kairi said sweetly as she patted him on the cheek, "make sure you give Riku your gift _after_ lunch, you hear me?"

Puzzled, Sora asked, "Huh? Why?"

The redhead linked arms with him as they began to walk down the hallway. "Because I'm going to give my gift to him _before_ lunch, so he can spend at least one period admiring my gift and thoughtfulness before you blow him away with your own and he forgets about everything else. Capiche?"

He pouted. "Kairi! My gift isn't going to blow him away! I'm certain he'll love our gifts equally –"

"So-ra, you sil-ly goose," she giggled, interrupting his train of thought. "I'm not saying it out of spite or jealousy, you know – my gift is wonderful too. But I caught a peek of your special gift to him last night – don't give me that look, I get privileges since I'm the one doing you a wrapping favor – and it really is something else. He'll love it."

Mentioning Riku and the word 'love' in any capacity was enough to get Sora a little hot under his collar, but he ignored it in favor of grinning. Kairi's sincere words had struck something very warm and pleased in the pit of his stomach. "You think?"

Kairi nodded sagely. "I know." Their respective classrooms were coming up, so she disentangled their arms. "So remember: no gift giving until _after _lunch, okay?"

Sora was in too good of a mood to do anything else but agree. "Okay, I promise!" He ran off to deliver his DaiRiZu gift to the higher-ups before he went to bombard his best friend with birthday wishes.

* * *

**(BEFORE LUNCH)**

"Sora!"

The brunet turned around at the sound of his name, already grinning in recognition of that voice. "Riku!" he called back, waiting for his friend to catch up with him. "Happy Birthday!"

"That's the third time you've told me that, goof. You don't need to say that _every_ single time we talk today," Riku laughed, obviously not really minding. He ruffled the shorter boy's hair and draped a pale arm across his shoulders. He was in a good mood, Sora observed happily, basking in the contact and offering up nothing but a grin in response.

"How has your day been treating you so far, birthday-boy?" he asked, noticing the traditional flower wreath around Riku's neck that Selphie always made for her friends on their special days.

"Good, good! That idiotic club hasn't bothered me all day, though I'm sure it's only a matter of time," he said with a face. Sora tried to not to react too noticeably. "Oh, but Wakka and Tidus chipped in to get me this awesome yellow and blue hoodie and Selphie gave me, well, she gave me an interesting… weird… novel… thing – you know how odd she can get sometimes." Riku seemed to be slightly flustered at the mention of Selphie's gift, but his tone of voice remained affectionate as he spoke of his friends. "And Kairi just gave me her gift, but I haven't opened it yet –"

Sora punched his shoulder lightly. "Open it, open it!" He already knew what it was, of course, having helped think of it, but he loved watching peoples' reactions to presents. And he especially loved watching Riku's reactions; he loved watching that normally serious, quiet disposition turn into something childish and unguarded, if only for a few minutes.

Without any further needling, Riku retrieved the small purple gift bag from his backpack and dug into the white tissue paper. He pulled out a dark wood frame that held a simple color pencil sketch inside. Three figures stood on a beach, a crude attempt at a raft drifting in the water behind them. One had red hair, a seashell necklace, and a yellow star fruit in hand. The other two, a brown-haired figure and a silver-haired figure, faced each other, each holding wooden swords.

"This is cute. I'm guessing some part of Namine has really rubbed off on her, huh?" he said gently, running a hand over the two boy figures. "These days feel so far away, but Kairi really did a great job of capturing them."

"Yeah, definitely." This was the first time Sora was seeing the finished product after he had suggested the idea and he was suitably impressed with Kairi's art skills.

"She even perfectly portrayed how I kicked your ass all the time."

Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" Sora squawked, leaning in closer.

Smirking, Riku pointed to the bandage on picture-Sora's leg. "Obviously, young Riku got the better of young Sora here. As per usual."

Sora gaped. That was not part of his suggestion, damn it, Kairi! But it was hard to stay annoyed – indignation reluctantly washed away when he heard Riku laughing yet again (the third time in minutes, one of Sora's most impressive Riku-related records to date).

Riku very carefully situated the frame back in the purple bag. "This is definitely getting a spot on my wall."

"She'll be really happy that you liked her gift so much," Sora remarked, both glad for Kairi and extremely anxious to see how Riku would react to _his_ gift later. As if he were reading Sora's mind, Riku turned to the brunet with an intent look.

"Isn't there something _you'd_ like to give me, Sora?" Riku held out his hand expectantly, jokingly.

Sora gave that hand a low five. "Kairi wanted to space out your gifts today, so you won't be getting anything from me until after next period." He stuck out his tongue for good measure.

The lunch bell rang at that moment and the two needed only to glance at each other with giant smiles before they both broke into a run and raced to the cafeteria.

* * *

**(AFTER LUNCH)**

They had gotten out of lunch relatively early for once and Sora could wait no longer. Kairi gave him an approving smile, signaling that she was fine with how long he had restrained himself. Sora grappled with the contents of his bag, finally pulling out the red present. He tried to hide his excitement – his gift was so going to kick ass! – and fixed all his focus on the smirking silver-haired boy in front of him.

Consequently, he missed the expression of contentment on Kairi's face slowly transforming into one of confusion and then panic, and barely even registered her attempts to gain his attention.

"Thanks," Riku said warmly, accepting the red box.

Red box. Red?

Something began to twinge urgently in the back of Sora's head.

Kairi moved to his side as Riku began to unwrap the gift. "Sora," she hissed. "Red paper meant your _DaiRiZu_ _present_!"

Which meant that Riku was now opening the nice, generic idea for a present that Sora had come up with for his Fan Number 61 persona. And his truly meaningful gift, the one that personified their hardships and battles and friendship, the gift that was so damn _personal_ that Riku would be able to tell who it was from, was currently sitting in a pile of gifts meant to be given from Riku's hated admirers.

Oh.

_Oh shit_.

Oblivious to his best friend's slow mental demise, Riku removed a pair of yellow and blue gloves from the box's depths and exclaimed energetically, "Oh, sweet! I've been meaning to get new gloves ever since we got back!" He put them on and clenched his fists, admiring the way the fabric stretched and covered his long fingers. "These match perfectly with that hoodie that the boys got me, too. They'll be perfect for sparring, I bet…" He looked up with a genuine grin on his face, so very sincere, that even in the midst of panic and fear, Sora still felt something in his chest twinge happily at the sight. "Thank you, Sora."

Sora tried to return the smile. "Of course! I'm – I'm glad you like them."

"These are absolutely _perfect_," Riku said earnestly. His eyes seemed to be trying to impress something upon Sora, but at the moment, all Sora could feel was complete and utter failure. "I've been searching for a good pair of gloves all over, but could never find them. You must have gone through a lot of trouble."

"It really was no problem at all, Riku," he replied weakly.

Except it was a problem. A really big monster of a problem. And he had no idea how the hell he could fix it.

* * *

_After much thought over how I wanted Riku to act on his birthday, I finally decided to make him happy and a little bit boyish. I know it may seem out of character, but I think that before their adventures, he would act smug and too-cool on his birthdays (you know, early-teen-Riku-style). During their adventures, he wouldn't even give any thought to his birthday at all. But this birthday, Riku has grown up a lot and it's the first real birthday he is celebrating after two years. He's surrounded by his precious people, doesn't have to worry about life threatening situations, and I'm sure he still feels great relief that his loved ones haven't turned him away after all that he's done. That makes for a slightly giddy, adorable Riku – or, at least, it does in my mind._

_I'm so sorry for the delay, once again. I feel like I'm always apologizing (mostly, because I am), so I'm sorry for that too… Life just likes to come in waves and currently, I'm in a monsoon of bad tidings that make it difficult for me to concentrate on anything else. I still love this couple and this fandom and all my stories, though, so be sure that I will finish everything I've started in due time. Love you all for your kind words, support, and saintly patience!_

_Forever yours,_

_A quirky little tune_


End file.
